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President Prabowo's new coal phase-out goal sets 'daunting task'
New President Prabowo offered a surprise commitment at last month's G20 summit to close hundreds of coal and fossil-fuel power plants by 2040, a bold pledge from one of the world's top coal producers and consumers.
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A coal power plant is seen along the north coast of Jakarta on July 4, 2024. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
M
eeting President Prabowo Subianto's pledge to phase out coal power in just 15 years and reach net-zero emissions by mid-century is a "daunting task" that will require immediate and ambitious action, experts warn.
New President Prabowo offered a surprise commitment at last month's G20 summit to close hundreds of coal and fossil-fuel power plants by 2040, a bold pledge from one of the world's top coal producers and consumers.
"It will be difficult to achieve. We need a total change to do it," said Fahmy Radhi, a lecturer and energy economist at Gadjahmada University.
Indonesia currently has 253 operational coal-fired power plants, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, including Southeast Asia's biggest at the Suralaya in Banten.
Dozens more are under construction, including so-called captive coal plants that supply energy to industry rather than the grid.
Shutting down this network to achieve Prabowo's target of meeting net-zero emissions a decade earlier than previously planned could cost tens of billions of dollars, according to estimates by researchers.
And while Indonesia secured a $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership with developed nations in 2022, which was supposed to speed its clean energy transition, little of that money has been seen so far.
